She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires

My food cravings seem to have their own seasons, likely dictated by some chemical or nutrient imbalance I create in my own ignorance. The craving du mois is brussel sprouts. (It must be noted that this craving follows a months-long affair with broccoli. Iron, anyone?)

This craving is odd because of the simple fact that I have had brussel sprouts maybe twice before. I have one vague memory of eating them with my parents though I am not sure if this actually happened or is a figment of my imagination. The only experience I do remember clearly happened a few years ago at Alta. Their menu changes frequently so I am not sure if those listed on the current menu are the same. Regardless, my memory is of crispy deliciousness and I would try any brussel sprout they ever wanted to feed me, current cravings aside.

So perhaps when I saw them in the store and my mouth started watering I was unconsciously remembering a distant meal. Was I capable of making crispy brussel sprouts? Not at all. Did I like brussel sprouts otherwise? I had no idea. But at that moment, I only wanted to take them home and eat nothing else for dinner... which I did.

Now, not having any experience preparing this veggie, I had a bit of a staring contest with the sprouts in the kitchen after all of my groceries were unpacked. They won. I retreated to the computer. But, Google to my rescue, I ended up very simply roasting them in the oven - my usual go to with vegetables. And thus it was that I ate one pound of roasted brussel sprouts for dinner. Truth be told, I have made a few meals of roasted brussel sprouts since.

I would like to try other ways to prepare brussel sprouts but my Google searches since then have not helped. It would seem that no one likes brussel sprouts if they're not roasted. So, I started experimenting in the kitchen. I put the sprouts in the food processor, tossed them with the standard olive-oil-salt-and-pepper and roasted the mix in the oven almost as usual. However, this time I took them out a minute early and sprinkled shaved parmesan on top. After letting them cook for a minute longer I mixed them with shredded lettuce and pine nuts for a nice, crisp salad. My stomach could not have been happier.

It did not occur to me until this evening to check over at Orangette. And now, lo and behold, I have new recipes to try. Guess who's stopping by the store tomorrow night for a brussel sprout stockpile?